Chapter 23: But the candy was covered with hair

"...Wah…" A cute vampire girl cried while she sat in a cardboard box, and a skeleton wearing a dead meat suit sat on another cardboard box in front of her.

"I wish I could cry, but with a dead body… umu." The dead-meat skeleton sighed.

"That's so sad… Wah..."

"I know. I'm sad too."

"You had just turned undead after getting killed, and somehow soon afterwards a bunch of undead attacked, and... now you can't even reveal your true nature because they'd think you are one of them, and have to live in a constant fear of being found out, because if you do then you'll get thrown out and abandoned…" Gasper's voice had turned much more stable, albeit her voice was still quiet.

She rocked herself back and forth in her cardboard box. "Like when I was locked up when I killed my m-mom after being born... I can't even go outside without hurting someone and getting killed by vampire hunters or devils or anything who finds out who I am…"

"...And a pervert brought you a bunch of different dresses for you and forced you to wear them to satisfy her desires, before breaking you out, so vampire hunters could chase you..." Momonga rocked himself in his cardboard box as well. "...And now if you go out and use your abilities you'll get found out instantly and a bunch of kill-squads are sent after you, and if someone finds out you're half-vampire and a devil you'll get abandoned by both vampires, humans, and devils…"

"...V-Valerie-chan wasn't a bad person though, she didn't want me to get hurt... but the dresses were so embarrassing... and no-one's accepted me after I got caught by vampire hunters and killed, except Rias-sama who resurrected me, but s-she's... " Gasper sobbed as she placed her hand on her chest. "She's…"

"She's no longer a King, actually, but she's alive." Momonga told her as the exchange of tragic backstories came to an end, albeit with Momonga supplying 'altered' version of his story in the new world, one where he was 'imbued with knowledge mysteriously' and 'turned undead by getting killed and resurrecting partially after the Rating Game'.

'Hm, so I guessed correctly after she told me she was one part vampire, one part human and one part devil- She was likely a part of Peerage, I just didn't know if she was part of Sona's Peerage or Rias's old Peerage. If she could feel her Piece losing connection with its master then she's likely Rias's 'missing' Bishop… But let's make sure before I make a mistake…' Momonga thought as the conversation seemed to go as he had planned, more or less. He hoped the half-vampire had bought his sympathy, which, granted, was only half-acted, and half genuine

Being unable to use one's own abilities without getting swamped by powerful enemies, or turning everyone around themselves hostile if they just twitched their brow the wrong way was something Momonga could sympathize with, as well as getting ganked when low level, or in Gasper's case, isolated and bullied when young and useless.

Nevertheless, he had managed to accomplish another goal by revealing his undead nature to the vampire- so that she'd know she could heal him with her negative energy, and also... 'So there's a faucet of information about my 'real state' that when tapped, would give me a 'second voice' when I start to creep towards revealing my undead nature to my Peerage… After all, a unbelievable news become much more believable if there's already two people believing it...'

The half-vampire froze from hearing that Rias was alive, and her face which had been a mask of gloom and doom broke into an amazed expression. "S-she- she's alive?"

"Yeah, Rias lost her position as the King of a Peerage, but I was adopted into the Phenix family and I married her, and became a King of a Peerage, and took her as well as the rest of her Peerage into mine." Momonga moved the conversation into a rail he had prepared. "It was pretty messy, all things considered, but we all got out in the end. She mentioned that she had a bishop somewhere in the human world, but I didn't get her, or his, name."

"S-she's talking about me!" Gasper confirmed Momonga's suspicion. "S-shes… She… uwa…"

"Hm, so you're technically a stray now, right?" Momonga tilted his head, causing Gasper to twitch violently and shrink deeper into her box. "I was wondering, do you want to join my Peerage? Rias is in it too. I'm pretty sure I can find someone else to take you in as well, but I figured I'd ask…"

"Y-yes, I'd… like that…" Gasper blushed and her stutter seemed to return. "A-ah, if Rias is in y-your Peerage, then of c-course I'd join… b-but… I feel like… I'd join y-yours… even if s-she wasn't…"

The half-vampire seemed to freeze still after getting the words out of her, and then attempted to run away, if not for two facts- one, the time was still stopped, and two, Momonga had grabbed her hand.

"A-ah, n-n-Hyah!" The girl seemed to shudder from the sudden touch and she would have fallen on her back if Momonga hadn't caught her midway through. Another burst of negative energy flooded the time-frozen classroom, further mangling the furniture and causing the cardboard boxes to disintegrate into a blackened mess of ash. "N-no… I liked th-those boxes…"

"Hm, I can get you more." Momonga chuckled as he let her sit down on his lap. The girl seemed more and more like a shy housecat the longer he was in her presence, except that the cat occasionally let blasts of negative energy that caused everything not-undead around her to disintegrate, devolve or become mangled into a nightmarish mass. And the cat could also stop time.

"R-really?"

"And I'd like to make you my second Bishop, if you'd like." Momonga added, reaching his hand into his inventory and grabbing a Bishop Piece. "That was my inventory. I use it to store my things."

"A-ah… it looks kinda cool…" The half-vampire noted and then looked at the Piece in Momonga's hand. "U-um… I accept…"

She took the piece with shaky, delicate hands and placed it against her chest, causing the Piece to merge into her and the inert Bishop Piece to fall out. Momonga took it and placed it into his inventory. "Ah, I'm sure you've realized this already, Gasper-san, but…"

"P-please, just call me Gasper… I- I don't like honorifics…"

"Sure, Gasper, please don't tell Rias or anyone else about what I've told you. I plan on telling them gradually, but let's just keep this between you and me for now, right?" Momonga asked, and the girl turned her head to look into his 'body's eyes. She averted her eyes as the eyes of his 'body' would have likely been blurry and lifeless on the fact that, well, the body was lifeless. "I don't want to accidentally hurt them or cause them to abandon me if something gets out before they're ready for it."

"A-alright, I promise… but I still can't leave this room. I'm too… unstable. I'll hurt people even if I don't want to..."

"Hm, I have an idea. Do you trust me?" Momonga picked her up, placed the girl in front of him and she turned around to look at him.

"I… think I do. B-but I still want to hear w-what you want to d-do first." Gasper answered after a long pause. "W-what do you need me to do?"

"Simple, really. I was planning on seeing if I could use a spell called [Ultimate Disturb] to seal your power so you can't accidentally use them when you don't want to." Momonga explained.

[Ultimate Disturb] was a tenth-tier spell which essentially nullified a target's spell-casting ability, while also raising their magic resistance to absurd levels. Moreover the spell could only be cast on allies, and thus not enemies or the caster themselves. It allowed tanks and anti-mage warriors to essentially negate any magical damage they'd receive, which was why magic casters in YGGDRASIL didn't rely solely on magical damage and also had a suite of complementary abilities that dispelled or reduced buffs the enemy would receive. He wasn't exactly sure what the upkeep requirements of the spell would be in the new world, in the old one the spell could be kept up by the caster in exchange for mana drain, but he figured that the circumstances would be more or less the same.

"W-what?"

"The spell causes your spellcasting abilities to almost vanish, alongside your mana and magic-related powers. They are still there, but vastly decreased in potency, like if you could conjure a fireball the size of a house, then after having [Ultimate Disturb] cast on you, you could barely light a candle." Momonga explained further. "I'll then release the spell if you need to use your abilities, although you'll probably need to fine-tune your skills for quite a long while before you can reliably use your full power without my 'crutch'. That being said, not all of your power gets sealed fully so you can still practise your control without releasing the seal, albeit with vastly reduced power so you don't endanger people around you or alert anyone to your true nature."

The half-vampire seemed stunned.

"Moreover I plan on using a spell called [Control Amnesia] on you to see if I can see if there are problems with your control of your abilities that stem from factors out of your control, and correct them if needed."

"I… didn't get that, but if it h-helps…" Gasper steeled herself. "P-please do it…"

Momonga nodded, and cast both spells he had mentioned.

Gasper seemed to slump unconscious as the [Ultimate Disturb] hit her and began sealing away her magical potency at rapid pace, causing the time to resume its normal flow around them.

Then, as the girl was non-responsive, [Control Amnesia] took hold… but instead of seeing Gasper's memories like an editable document, he saw something quite different.

He saw into the [Sacred Gear] within Gasper itself, and the creature within, Balor, instantly rose up to fight against the intruder that was Momonga.

But with [Ultimate Disturb] grinding the gear's ability to a halt, and its user unconscious, there was little Balor could do as Momonga poked and prodded in the [Sacred Gear]'s metaphysical brain, finding a treasure trove of information within.

'Umu, so the [Sacred Gear: Forbidden Balor View] contains a portion of a 'evil' god, Balor… Interesting… That must have messed up seriously with Gasper's natural abilities, tapping into something like that thing's power wouldn't end well without proper skill or precautions…' Momonga tapped his chin mentally while weakened Balor raged against [Control Amnesia], the meat-suited Overlord deciding to not think too much about how their roles might be reversed if he hadn't cast [Ultimate Disturb] on Gasper before forming the link between him and the sealed god-shard, or if Gasper was still conscious.

In the end, Momonga decided to essentially copy Balor's knowledge of the [Sacred Gear] from the being that resided in it, as well as it's knowledge of its innate abilities, and transferred the information to Gasper, adding it right after the memories that had been cut off by falling unconscious due to [Ultimate Disturb].

'She's going to be really confused once she wakes up… as far as she remembers, her powers were sealed by me, and then she was somehow out fighting a bunch of things as Balor, then fought Sephiroth Graal, had her powers sealed again, and then woke up…'

'The worst case scenario is that she starts to self-identify as Balor…' Hoping for best and fearing for worst, Momong ended the [Control Amnesia].

The girl didn't seem to react in any way, so Momonga reached to poke her cheek, causing her to spring up and crash into his chest, raising her hand as if to conjure something at his face.

"Good morning, Gasper Vladi. Slept well?" Momonga asked warily as the girl seemed to blink a few times in absolute confusion.

"I… I… was… wha… who… Momon-sama?" Gasper seemed to be completely out of it, which he couldn't blame the girl for being. "I was just… I fought Graal?"

"I took some of the memories from Balor, the being that resides in your [Sacred Gear], who is responsible for… well, everything that has gone wrong with your powers, and placed those memories in your head in hopes that they'll let you control your powers more effectively." Momonga told her and then looked at her hand which was still outstretched towards his face. "I'm glad I sealed your powers first, though."

"I… I… almost…" Gasper seemed to realize that she was on top of Momonga and posed as if trying to blast his head away with some kind of spell. He could feel a tiny speck of negative energy gathering on her palm, but that was it. "M-my head hurts…"

"Indeed, you'd have hurt someone if your power wasn't sealed, but nothing happened. So the seal works, and you have nothing to fear as far as hurting people inadvertently goes. Also, there's no doubt the memories are confusing you. It'll pass." 'I hope'

"Ah… I… we, Balor, I did some horrible things... "

"That was just Balor, you merely saw his memories. You've committed no crimes, except those which Balor forced you to commit in your own life, for which the blame falls on him. Use his memories to master his power, and then use it to do something good." Momonga placed his hands on Gasper's shoulders. "Tell me when you're ready to move on, or if you have anything else you'd want me to know."

"Ah…" Gasper seemed to realize she was straddling Momonga and hopped up quickly while blushing deep crimson. "I- well, thing is, I'm… a… b... um, nevermind…"

"Right… Say, can you cast your strongest spell, right now?" Momonga asked her, and Gasper concentrated really hard on something after thinking about it for a while.

A dark aura seemed to come from her, which made her feel slightly ominous but otherwise perfectly normal. 'Hm? That's almost like my [Black Halo] back when I had an Overlord body… It's mostly cosmetic, but it heals lesser undead passively due to negative energy leakage...'

"See? It works." Momonga clapped while the girl stopped projecting her power and paused to catch her breath, her attention solely on recovering from the exertion.

Momonga used the time and the chance to reach into his inventory and grabbed a health potion, downed it, and observed as his body started to heal itself from getting subjected to negative energy while sapping away Momonga's health. 'Interesting… it seems that the effect of the potions is consistent even if the body is badly damaged, as long as it retains flesh… I'll have to see if I can find out this world's equivalents of YGGDRASIL health potions, I don't have unlimited stock and having to use one each time my fleshy body dies is fairly costly, albeit necessary to keep my cover at least until the news of my 'undead nature' is broken in for everyone who needs to know.'

The girl seemed amazed how quickly Momonga's health returned after she caught her breath and turned back towards him. "Whoa! I- I didn't kill anything! I can… I can talk to people, and they won't die! I… I can… I can… Ahaha!""

"Well, shall we go back?" Momonga asked as he offered his hand at Gasper, who hesitated for a long time before she took his hand, blushing madly. 'Oh… don't tell me I've accidentally seduced another one…'

"B-back where?"

"To Rias and Akeno, and some others. I feel there are some misconceptions that need to be cleared, and I'll need to check up on them anyway since they were unconscious when I left them in the Student Council room."

"I-I can't, it's…"

"Your powers have been sealed, just hold to my hand and it'll be alright. You couldn't hurt anyone even if you tried to. And if anyone tries to hurt you, I'll intervene. Close your eyes if you need to." Momonga told her as he led the shaking half-vampire out of the now-ruined classroom.

The girl was visibly gathering her courage as she followed, her eyes open and glued to Momonga's back.

Momonga paused. "Ah, I forgot. I had this stored. [Release]"

He swiped his hand diagonally in the direction of a tree, and the sound equivalent of slicing one's thumb with a monomolecular scalpel entered the pair's ears.

"I had stored a cutting spell in my [Greater Seal], in case you turned out to be a vampire that had set up shop near the school so you could hunt them and drink them dry. My Peerage members attend this school, you see, so I couldn't allow you to do that." Momonga explained to Gasper who stared at the tree which quietly fell over, cut in half diagonally. "I didn't think I'd need to use it, but you know the saying: preparation saves, overconfidence kills."

Gasper gulped. "You're s-scary sometimes, Momon-sama…"

"Thanks, I guess, Gasper."

"...And n-nice. I guess..."

.

.

"...And that's basically what happened to the point I came into the room and saw Serafall Leviathan being pat on the head by Momon-sama, or Issei-kun." Akeno finished her explanation to Sona, while Rias was waking up groggily in her lap.

"Haah…" Sona rubbed her face. "Honestly, if half of what you've told us is true, then… I can't believe I'm about to say this… I'd prefer to have the old Issei back. At least the damage caused by peeping into a girl's locker room can be somewhat contained, but Momon-san would likely just burst in, cause half of the girls to faint, half to fall in love with him, and permanently wreck the place in the passing."

"Ara? That's… more or less what has happened so far." Akeno nodded eagerly, an honest look on her face not quite managing to hide the sadistic one below it, as she watched Sona struggle mentally to get to grip with the whole situation.

"Is Serafall-sama gone? Is Momon back? Can we go to class now? Can we go home?" Rias asked with a lifeless tone. "I want to go home. I want to roll around left and right in a bed for a while and then sleep."

Someone knocked politely on the door, and then opened it.

Momon stepped into the room. "Ah, hello. I apologize for my previous, abrupt, departure. However I hope that since Sona-sama, Akeno-san and Rias-san are all awake, the other people present would refrain from attacking me before I am allowed to defend myself with words."

"No, not the words… anything but the words…" Rias groaned, turned around on Akeno's lap, and buried her face deep into Akeno's breasts.

Momon then walked deeper into the room while Sona's Peerage was watching the boy as if he had grown horns and was made entirely out of some repulsive material, revealing a petite blonde 'girl' that was following lock-step behind Momon, and was holding his hand.

Akeno watched the physical interaction in shock, and it seemed that Sona did much the same as she was aware of Rias's now-ex Bishop, and had been the one to prepare a classroom for 'her' to inhabit until 'she' got better control over 'her' power.

Gasper Vladi, the cross-dressing ex-Bishop of Rias Gremory and a half-vampire devil capable of stopping time with his [Sacred Gear], and a socially awkward recluse who refused to go out of his cardboard box or meet new people because he feared he'd hurt them, was following Momon as if he was his old friend, and was even holding hands with him.

And moreover, the male half-vampire was blushing furiously.

Momon sat on a couch and, much to everyone's shock, including Momon's, Gasper sat on his lap.

Sona struggled to take breath.

Sona's Peerage seemed to be completely out of it, unsure of what their reaction should be- on the other hand, Issei had done something Issei-y again, but he had a cross-dressing boy on his lap, but he was also Momon, and if Akeno's explanation had been correct, had done a long list of utterly insane non-Issey things in the past few days alone.

Rias finally turned her head as Akeno was completely stunned.

She then turned her head back to Akeno when Gasper waved 'her' hand happily at Rias from 'her' seat on Momon's lap, although Rias remembered to wave back to the blonde boy first.

"Why does this keep happening to me…" Rias groaned loudly into Akeno's boobs, causing the raven-haired girl to blush hard as the vibrations of the red-head's voice might have sent all kinds of sensations across the two mounds of fun her face was buried in. "It's been twenty minutes… twenty minutes!"

"Ah, we had a long heart-to-heart with Gasper. The time was actually stopped while we talked, so it's actually more like, two hours." Momon noted and Gasper nodded. "Um, Gasper, would you like to get off my lap?"

"No."

"Ah, alright."

"Iss… Hss… Momon-san. Do you, perhaps, realize that Gasper-san is a boy?" Sona finally got out after a few attempts that seemed to start more as curses than as proper attempts to speak.

Momon lifted his eyebrow in confusion, then turned towards Gasper who blushed and began fiddling with the hem of his dress.

"...Girl's dresses are cuter, and I like them more." The half-vampire admitted in a quiet, shy voice.

"Ah, I see." Momon seemed distracted somehow. "Alright."

Gasper seemed happy from not getting rejected instantly, although 'she' blushed a bit as Momon grabbed 'her' waist, lifted 'her' off his lap, and put 'her' beside him on the couch.

Gasper then turned around and put his head on Momon's lap.

.

.

The inside of Momonga's mind was made of chaos.

Upon hearing the words 'Gasper is boy', Peroroncino-plushie's, who had been tied with duct-tape and put to 'horny jail', eyes started to glow red like two miniature suns and it had torn the duct tape off with just a flex of its suddenly massive wool-muscles.

The enlarged humanoid bird-plushie screamed something completely incomprehensible.

'Momonga' asked Peroroncino-plushie what were the benefits of using the new Bishop, a healer, as a trap, and while she may or may not be 'cute loli', it didn't change the fact that using a healer to bait the enemy was a terrible move.

Touch Me-plushie was attempting to hold Peroroncino-plushie back, but to little success, while 'Suzuki Satoru', now having properly snapped, flexed his muscles as well and caused the proper and neat dress suit he had been wearing to disintegrate around him while he grew in size to match the glowing-eyed avian plushie.

The two mental projections faced off against each other in a kaiju-like duel of 'big breasts and hetero only' against 'lolis are justice and traps only make it better'.

'Momonga' sighed, sat his skeletal frame down on the barren wasteland of Momonga's mind-scape, and started to play with a ball of yarn while wearing a khaki trench coat.

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